1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to serial interface communication test apparatuses and test methods, and particularly to a simplified serial interface communication test apparatus and a serial interface communication test method using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A dual-mode handset generally includes two central processing units (CPUs) respectively processing communication signals of two different wireless communication apparatuses (e.g., GSM apparatus and CDMA apparatus). Each CPU generally includes at least one serial interface, and the two CPUs need to transmit data to each other through their serial interfaces when the dual-mode handset works. Thus, in manufacture of dual-mode handsets, quality of serial interface communication of the dual-mode handsets needs to be tested.
When testing the quality of serial interface communication of a dual-mode handset, the two CPUs of the dual-mode handset are electronically connected to each other through their serial interfaces, and a processor is used to control either of the two CPUs to work and check data transmission between the two CPUs. Particularly, the processor should have three serial ports, wherein one serial port is connected to an input connector of the serial interface of a CPU for controlling the CPU to work, and other two serial ports are respectively connected to output connectors of the serial interfaces of the two CPUs to check data transmission between the two CPUs. Thus, the controlling signals sent by the processor can be prevented from interfering with the data transmission between the two CPUs.
However, in most serial interface communication test apparatuses, the processor is a conventional personal computer (PC), which generally has only two serial ports. In a test process, one serial port of the PC is first connected to an input connector of the serial interface of a CPU, and the PC controls the CPU to work. When the controlled CPU works normally, the input connector of the serial interface of the CPU must be separated from the serial port, and the two serial ports of the PC are then respectively connected to the output connectors of the serial interfaces of the two CPUs to check data transmission between the two CPUs. Thus, the test process is complicated, and frequent connecting and separating operation may damage the serial ports after the PC is used to test many dual-mode handsets.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.